Lavender Lounge Review

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Lavender Lounge is a fairly new membership site, but it's not a new site. I only visited the old site a couple of time, but I seem to recall that it was mostly a gay porn blog with lots of free content, porn entertainment news, and photos from adult industry trade and award shows. The site's owner lives in the middle of San Francisco's gay district within walking distance of six major gay porn studios. So he couldn't hit his corner Starbucks or Gold's Gym without running into a porn actor. With access to so many hot men, Lavender Lounge started producing original content and the new site was born.

Site owner and producer Mark Kliem wanted to create something a little different, and he employs a simple formula for making what he calls "extra smoking hot" videos: the models choose their own scene partners - another porn star, a fuck buddy, a boyfriend, or someone trying to break into the business - he directs as little as possible, allowing the actors to play much like they would at home in their bedrooms and playrooms; finally, they add something quirky or kinky.

The action is largely suck and fuck fare with props and costumes, i.e. leather chaps and harnesses; and the kinky stuff includes flogging, fisting, sling play, saran wrap, blindfolds, cock docking, spanking, and dildo sex. But this isn't a hardcore BDSM site, think of it as if you and you partner decided to explore a daddy / boy scene, do a little heavy ass play, or put on some gear and force feed your cock to your lover and spank his ass while you fuck him.

Lavender Lounge features a variety of men. When I visited there were a handful of twink types, a couple of jocks, lots of solidly-muscled (but not overdone) guys, several hairy men, and a few tattooed guys; and most range from 20- to 30-something. Among the gay porn stars, you'll find Spencer Reed, Conner Habib, Nick Moretti, Josh West, and others.

All the videos in the member's area are downloadable in QuickTime (720x406 @ 3000 kbps) and WMV (710x400 @ 2500 kbps) and there are two other versions for iPad and iPhone, the iPad video is actually the biggest displaying at 940x540 @ 2000 kbps. You can also opt to stream the movies right on the site in a Flash player. There are three screen resolutions ranging from 480x270 to 1024x576 and three speeds; each screen size can be played at any of the speed options. Top marks go to this site for offering so many different options.

There are currently 25 episodes, but Lavender Lounge just opened its doors in December 2011. There are 20 duos and five solos, and 15 of the videos were filmed in HD. The site currently has 38 different models. But no updates hae been added in the past month, however the site admin says they should start updating again shortly - they had run into technical difficulties. You'll also find 23 photo galleries with 50 to 100 pictures each, and they're big, displaying at 1500 pixels on the long side. They are, however, scaled to fit at 586x883 in your browser window, and this means that if you right-click and save the picture or download the photo zip file, you'll be getting a picture that is approximately 997x1500.

As a bonus you'll get access to the mobile version of the site and also get 11 extra videos that are behind-the-scenes stuff. One I watched show a fistee get his butt hole opened up with a giant dildo before the handballing scene was filmed - how else do you think those fists just slide into butts when the camera starts rolling? They were others that included guys showering, interviews, and other fun stuff like Spencer Reed's recipe for getting lube out of the sheets.

Lavender Lounge is also now a part of a larger network, so you'll get bonus access to Alpha Male Fuckers, Bulldog Pit, World of Men, and Brash Boys. And the first three sites also update weekly, so you'll be getting several new videos every week. There's also a blog that updates every couple of days.

There were a couple issues here. First, trial members may get limited access. Also some join options include a pre-checked 1-day $1.00 trial membership to another site that rebills at $29.95 per month. Then there's the lack of recent updates. The other things that I didn't like about the site have more to do with what I like sexually and wouldn't contribute to a fair or objective review, so they're not worth mentioning. One thing I did find a little bothersome is that you have to log into each bonus site instead of passing through a backdoor, but that's pretty minor.

Lavender Lounge is new in its current format, but the site's owner has done a good job of creating hot and intriguing content with a twist. While the sex play is on the kinky side, it's not over-the-top hardcore or severe - think of playful scene play. Lavender Lounge's content is well produced, the site is organized and easy to navigate, the models are mostly hot men I'd bed down in a hot minute, and the sex is pretty smoking. What else can you ask for? Regular updates, but they're working on that, so with time the site will grow, but even now with its bonus offering of videos and hundreds more in the bonus sites, Lavender Lounge is worth visiting and checking out.

Picture Info

23 galleries of digital stills sized at about 997x1500, good amateur quality, 50-100 pictures in thumbnail galleries and downloadable zips, no slide shows.

Bonus Content

11 behind the scenes videos, access to mobile version of site, 4 gay bonus sites from same network.

Site Issues

This site no longer updates!

Pre-checked email newsletter subscription on join page. Some (not all) join options have a pre-checked offer on the join page. Trial members may get only limited access to site's content and features. Site has not updated since February (but says they'll start updating soon).

Things We Liked:

Exclusive content with creative and kinky videos and hot masculine men

Videos are downloadable (No DRM)

Updates are dated

Access to mobile version of site

Lots of options for downloading or watching videos

Things We Didn't Like:

pre-checked email newsletter subscription on join page

Site has not updated since February

Site is on the new side and needs time to grow

some join options include a pre-checked offer

Trial members may get limited access

Screenshots

Others Say

You should have no problem with navigation here and you will find some very alluring and natural movies. These are easy to access and you are given lots of viewing and downloading choices, which is good info.